Trade-Marks You Never Knew

August 30th, 2012

Some interesting and lesser-known trade-mark facts:

An early use of trade-marks in Britain was by bakers who wanted to distinguish their baked goods from other bakers. The Baker’s Marking Law of 1266 regulated this practice and was an early precursor to trade-mark law in Britain.

Aspirin was a registered trade-mark in many European countries until 1919 when, pursuant to war reparations terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the mark lost its registered status in the US and the Triple Entente countries (UK, Russia, France).

The Escalator was first developed and trade-marked in 1900. Fifty years later, the term was so widely used to describe a moving staircase that it was officially stripped of trade-mark protection. Interestingly enough, the verb “escalate” only came into existence in 1922 as a result of this invention, and contributed to its downfall.

Heroin was trade-marked by Bayer AG in part from how it made its test subjects feel “heroic”. It was widely marketed as being completely non-addictive.

The trade-mark “Crayola” derives its origin from the French words “craie”, meaning chalk, and “oléagineux”, meaning oily. Essentially, Crayola crayons are “oily chalk”.

Trade-marks continue to play an essential and important role in society. You should consider trade-marking your business name, slogan, or logo. Contact me today to discuss further.